“Halo” by Beyoncé

“Halo” was written specifically with Beyoncé’s relationship with her husband, Jay-Z, in mind. That means that this is actually a love song. And perhaps the simplest way to describe it is as a tune in which the singer is likening her romantic partner to a angelic being, i.e. the “halo” symbolism.  And what this practically means within the context of the song is that he has had a profound, positive effect on her life.

So for instance, at the beginning of the first verse we see that Queen B has ‘built walls’ around herself. This would be symbolic of her being on guard against giving her heart to another. So the implication would be that she has experienced considerable romantic or at least emotional disappointment in the past.

However, the addressee, i.e. her romantic interest, has been able to get past these sentimental barriers. And fundamentally, all of the elaborate metaphors used throughout “Halo” point to two ideas. First is that, as aforementioned, the singer’s lover has basically transformed her life due to his presence. And second is, as a result of such, she is deeply in love with him and indeed intends to hold onto this relationship henceforth.

Conclusion

So those of us familiar with the tune know that it has a very deep, weighty sound. And the lyrics, in many regards, are esoteric in nature. But at the end of the day, the concepts they all boil down to are quite simple. The singer was under the impression that she would never again fall in love. But she has met an exceptional person, whom once again she likens to an angel, who has proved her otherwise.

Music Video

The music video to this song, which was directed by Philip Andelman, featured Hollywood actor Michael Ealy. Ealy portrayed the role of Queen B’s romantic interest.

Release Date of “Halo”

“Halo” was released by Columbia Records and Music World on 20 February 2009. This is the fourth single from Beyoncé’s third-studio album (as a soloist), which is entitled “I Am… Sasha Fierce”.

Writing and Production Credits

The credited writers of “Halo” are Beyoncé, E. Kidd Bogart and Ryan Tedder, the leader of OneRepublic. The credited producers of the track are “Halo” Tedder and Beyoncé.

It was Bogart and Tedder who originally conceptualized and wrote the tune, with the writing being completed in three hours. At the time Tedder was on leave from OneRepublic due to surgery he had to repair a broken Achilles tendon. Their inspiration for writing the tune was a song called “Shelter” (2004) by an American singer named Ray LaMontagne. And Beyoncé’s songwriting contribution seems to have come specifically in terms of rewriting the bridge. 

There’s a prevailing rumor that Tedder and E. Kidd Bogart instead wrote this song for British songstress Leona Lewis. However, Tedder went on to clarify that what actually transpired is that they offered to give it to her if Beyoncé did not ultimately record it, which of course she did.

Similarities between “Already Gone” and “Halo”

On an interesting note, Tedder got into beef with American singer Kelly Clarkson because of this song. This occurred later in 2009 when he co-wrote a song with her entitled “Already Gone”. Well musically this track has been deemed to be similar to “Halo”. This was a resemblance Clarkson did not realize at first, until critics brought it to public attention. And upon realizing such herself, she was quite furious as she didn’t want to be accused of copying Beyoncé. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that by the time she did come to this realization, it was too late to remove the tune from her album, “All I Ever Wanted”, as she desired. 

And even after making her displeasure well known, RCA still opted to release “Already Gone” as a single. Yet throughout this ordeal Tedder himself has maintained that the two songs are indeed different, as in he did not copy “Halo” onto “Already Gone”.

Notable Accolades

This track was nominated for a number of awards and took home a few. For instance it won a Grammy in 2010 in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In winning the said award, it beat a number of other popular songs, including Adele’s “Hometown Glory“. It also earned a 2009 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song of that year.

Notable Performances of “Halo”

The first time Beyoncé performed “Halo” live was during the NAACP Awards which were held on 12 February 2009.

She has of course gone on to perform this hit numerous times throughout the years. But there are a few instances which are especially notable. For instance, while touring in early July 2009, shortly after the death of Michael Jackson, Beyoncé memorialized him by modifying the lyrics of “Halo” to give a special shoutout to the late singer. 

Then on 22 January 2010 she inserted the word “Haiti” into the lyrics during a charity performance in the aftermath of the earthquake which struck that country of earlier that month. That particular rendition, which featured Coldplay’s Chris Martin on the piano, can be found on an album entitled “Hope for Haiti Now” (2010).  

“Halo” was also part of Beyoncé’s setlist as she held down the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2013. Moreover Queen B performed this tune in memory of Kobe Bryant during a tribute held for the basketball legend on 24 February 2020.

Covers

A number of prominent artists have covered this song throughout the years.  This list includes the likes of the following:

• Florence and the Machine (2009)
• Katy Perry (2009)
• Westlife (2010)
• Major Lazer alongside dancehall artist Elephant Man (2011)
• The cast of “Glee” (2009)

A Great International Success

“Halo” reached number one on Billboard’s US Dance Club Songs chart. It also topped music charts in Brazil, Slovakia and a couple of other countries.

In terms of the two most-important music charts, the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, it respectively climbed to numbers 5 and 4.

So overall “Halo” was a great international success, a song that charted in almost 30 countries overall and has regularly reappeared on music charts in the years since its initial release. This has resulted in the tune being certified multi-Platinum in a number of countries, in that regard performing most-impressively in Australia, where it has gone seven-times Platinum.